LaGuardia terminal cleared in early morning bomb scare

Device carried by man in a bag proves to be fake; travel plans for thousands are disrupted

Stephanie Nano Associated Press

Published 1:00 am, Sunday, August 2, 2009

NEW YORK — The central terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport was evacuated Saturday morning after a man entered the building with a fake bomb in a bag, police said.

The scare was over in a few hours, but it disrupted travel plans for thousands of people as flights were postponed and vehicle traffic to the airport was briefly halted. Delays also rippled across the country as airlines adjusted their schedules.

Authorities identified the man as Scott McGann, a 32-year-old who was apparently homeless and had been living on New York City's streets for at least a year.

He had a ticket for a United Airlines flight headed to Chicago, with connecting flights that would have ultimately taken him to Oakland, Calif., where he has family.

McGann faces charges including placing a false bomb in a transportation facility and making terroristic threats.

The trouble began shortly after 5 a.m., when he checked in for his flight and immediately began attracting attention because of bizarre behavior.

Police received two calls about an apparently intoxicated or suspicious passenger before he had even reached a security checkpoint, Kelly said.

Security officials said he was "just acting crazy," Kelly said.

Authorities stopped McGann, but he didn't respond to questions. He then appeared to depress some sort of makeshift trigger, prompting Port Authority police to move in and snatch the bag away.

A search of the duffel turned up an assemblage of batteries and wires that police thought was intended to look like a bomb, Kelly said.

The terminal was evacuated at around 5:30 a.m.

Investigators quickly determined that the device wasn't dangerous, but travelers became inconvenienced as flights were postponed and traffic backed up outside. Passengers didn't get back in to the terminal until close to 9 a.m.